Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. John 14:1
My words…
Praise
Jesus, when You spoke these words, You were surrounded by deeply troubled people. Your apostles were, in modern terms, freaked out. After living with, learning from, and loving You for three years, the eleven were being forced to face a truth they dreaded: You were leaving them. Alone. They had grown accustomed to Your presence. I picture them crowding around You when You spoke along the way, so they wouldn’t miss out on one word. They watched with giddy anticipation when You stretched out Your hand to heal. They stood wide-eyed when You confronted the holier-than-thou teachers of the law and came away the holiest. Their greatest wish was to spend the rest of their lives hanging out with You. But it wasn’t to be, thus the heart-wilting trouble. Your answer? Just trust Me. Trust My Father. I don’t think that’s what they wanted to hear. They wanted You to abandon Your plan and stick around, so they could trust the Jesus they could touch. You called them to something higher. You’re always doing that!
Prayer for me
Help me to trust You with my troubles. You have already seen past the problem, and You know the outcome. There’s great comfort for me in that…sometimes. Other times, I allow my trouble to grow like a tendril around my heart and squeeze the trust right out of it. I need to trust You more deeply. Only You can help me with that. Help me.
Forgive me
Forgive me when I allow my troubles to not only affect my heart and spirit, but also my temperament, my mood, my speech, my actions: the evidence of my lack of trust.
Prayer for others
Lord, my troubles are like soft rain showers compared to the destructive hurricanes others must weather. Money worries. Bad news from the doctor. A beloved child in torment. And much worse. They are worn down with troubles, weakened in spirit. I cannot take their troubles from them; I’m not the answer. You are. I pray they will turn to You and trust You with their load, so their spirits can soar again.
Thank You
Thank You for not leaving me alone with my troubles. What a wretched life that would be.
More praise
I love the word must in this passage. My heart must not be troubled. Must not be. It reminds me of a caring mother’s instruction to her child: “You mustn’t do that. It’s not good for you.” My heart must be holding on to other things instead, like contentment, joy, and, yes, trust in You, for it’s these that loosen the tendrils that bind my heart.
